Sound bathing may be one of the latest modern wellness trends but the ancient practice has actually been around for much longer, with a history dating back over two thousands years in Tibet. The meditative ritual refers to an experience that uses sound and its vibrations to induce a state of deep relaxation. At Sound Ceremony, founders and owners JR Jayananda and Hayley Saraswati run regular sound bathing retreats in Guatemala and Peru. We speak to the duo on everything you need to know about the sensory experience.
Could you tell us about yourself and how you started Sound Ceremony? We met on Lake Atitlán, Guatemala during a yoga teacher training programme. Here, we discovered a shared passion of yoga philosophy, sound, music, mantra and bhakti yoga. Then we began co-facilitating Kula Collective yoga teacher trainings and transformational retreats at our Guatemalan retreat centre of The Yoga Forest on Lake Atitlán and around the world. We co-created the Sound Ceremony trainings and we now specialise in teaching, offering retreats three times a year in Guatemala and the advanced course which is now available in Peru.
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What is a sound ceremony? A Sound Ceremony is the alchemy of Sound Healing, Divine Chant, Sacred Song and Prayer into Ceremony. It allows us to shift frequency, raise vibration and access deep states of consciousness.
Sound has been used as a shamanic and religious healing modality since ancient times to restore, rejuvenate and harmonise the body-mind complex as well as induce and cultivate mystical experience.
In these sessions the vibrational harmonics and overtones can induce meaningful resolution physically and psychologically where you may uncover deep emotional release, the on-coming of synesthesia (sensory overlap) and the emergence of visions or dreams. Or, this may be likened to a vibrational massage helping to elevate you of built up stresses and unnecessary anxieties.
This is an intimate and relaxing healing meditation serenading you through a unique shower of shamanic soundscapes with ancestral instruments such as Crystal and Tibetan Singing Bowls, Australian Didgeridoo, Chinese Gongs, Shamanic Drum, Native Flutes plus Mantra and Medicine Songs and more from around the world.
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Who is a sound ceremony aimed at? It’s aimed at anyone who is moved by the Power of Sound.
So in particular, musicians, healers, therapists, yogis, meditators, mystics, psychologists, philosophers, teachers, medical workers, medicine workers and song carriers! It’s for people who are ready to shift and lift; to open and ignite and to listen to the subtleties of stillness and silence.
What are the benefits of sound bathing? The benefits include:
- Accelerating the healing process
- Liberating emotional traumas stored within the body/mind complexes
- Expanding the capacity for love, peacefulness and happiness within oneself
- Alleviating from anxiety
- Reducing symptoms of depression
- Increasing sleep quality
- Reducing stress
- Increasing a sense of calm
And so much more!
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Where is the best place to have a sound bath? Sound baths usually take place somewhere indoors and with minimal background noise.
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What are some common misconceptions of sound bathing? A common misconception is that you have to be a musician in order to give a sound bath (which you do not)!
What’s next for your brand? We have expanded into our sound illumination retreat in Peru that is now happening once a year, specifically aimed for our Sound Ceremony grads for building their own instruments and using plant medicine to experience Sound in an even deeper sense. We also are building a Sound Temple specifically to host our trainings in 2023 in Guatemala.
Contact bookings@compareretreats.com to book your luxury wellness retreat
